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Fundraisers bring life-changing results

6 August 2018

Trekking up Mount Snowdon and cycling
from Manchester to Blackpool were just two of the challenges that have brought
life-changing benefits to residents living with dementia at Belong care village
in Atherton, Greater Manchester, through multi-sensory equipment, which was
purchased from funds raised by the efforts of staff at the village.

The new equipment, called ‘Vecta
Deluxe’, has been introduced by Belong to provide stimulation to those unable
to engage in other activities, and is already showing remarkable results,
including radical improvements for one resident, who has been unresponsive to most
stimuli previously, yet held her husband’s hand and spoke his name for the
first time in eight years.

‘Vecta Deluxe’ allows Belong to
transform any room into a therapeutic environment for people receiving end of
life care, or those living with dementia, anxiety or depression, and it is
being hailed as a remarkable innovation by staff at the class-leading dementia
care village; recently awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality
Commission.

The new equipment combines a bubble
column, projector, fibre-optics, aromatherapy diffuser and audio station and is
being positioned in bedrooms for residents who are physically restricted and
unable to engage in other activities within the village. It is welcomed by
Gemma Willetts, Belong Atherton’s experience co-ordinator, who was instrumental
in organising the fundraising campaign. She commented: “The results with
residents have been fantastic. And I would go as far as saying, life-changing
for some of them.

“It took a while to raise the funds,
and many hours and days of sore limbs and physical challenges for our staff but
the tremendous support from sponsors and also Hindley Green Family Church,
which helped make this happen, has made it so worthwhile for those of our
residents whose quality of life has improved as a consequence. I can’t thank
them enough.”

The results at Belong Atherton have
been so encouraging that staff at other Belong care villages across the
North-West are now embarking on their own fundraising initiatives to purchase
Vecta equipment.

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